BMW S 1000 R breaks cover

BMW has been working on a naked version of its hyper-fast superbike, the S 1000 RR for quite some time now, and it has finally revealed it at EICMA today.

Called the S 1000 R (one R less), this is essentially a muscle-laden S 1000 RR without the fairing, powered by a slightly detuned motor. It still gets two differently-shaped headlamps, but ensconced within the bikini fairing, they do not look as polarising as the ones on the RR.

It is based on the RR, but here, the 999cc inline-four engine makes 158bhp, 32 horses down on the faired bike, while torque stays identical at 112Nm. The R only revs to 11,000rpm compared to the RR's 13,000, but BMW's aim was to provide a lot more power further down in the range and boost low-end response. And the results are there for all to see - up till 7,500rpm, the R makes 10Nm more than the RR would at the same number of revs.

To keep all that power in check, the S 1000 R gets two riding modes - Rain and Road - as standard, while Riding mode Pro brings along two additional modes - Dynamic and Dynamic Pro, which come in handy in case you intend to decimate lap times. Automatic Stability Control (ASC), steering damper and Race ABS come standard too, but Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) and Dynamic Damper Control (DDC) are optional fitments.

Stopping power is provided by twin disc brakes at the front, and a single disc at the rear, a set-up similar to the one present on the RR.